When I was little, too young to actually play our N64, I would hopelessly watch my brother as he hacked away at every level in GoldenEye, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, the Turok games, StarFox64, Super Mario64, and countless other games that shaped our childhood.
The game that always fascinated me, though, the game that I could never stop playing, once I was old enough, was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
The romanticism of the adventurous hero was what drew me in, I remember it specifically. The fact that I could play as the Hero of Time, save the Princess, save Hyrule! ...Made me feel invincible.
I wanted to be Link; To travel anywhere in Time, saving the world from the evils that lurk within it's shadowy depths.
For years, I played every Zelda game I could get my hands on, and when I really became entranced with the series altogether was when I played The Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess, which, to this day, is my favourite game in the franchise. (I haven't been able to play Skyward Sword yet... *dramatic sob*)
After I beat Twilight Princess, I began scouring the web for anything Zelda related: Clothes, accessories, books, anything.
What I found was an ocarinist.
David Ramos, a YouTuber whose plethora of videos I found, enraptured me. I found his rendition of Zelda's Lullaby, in which he played on a replica of the Ocarina of Time, and immediately thought, "I need that fucking ocarina."
For months, I did nothing but watch his videos, listening intently to the ocarina and loving every moment. I dug through the internet and found dozens of sites from where I could order an ocarina, and fell hopelessly in love with Songbird Ocarina's replica of the Ocarina of Time.
I knew I had to have it.
I gazed longingly upon the ocarina whenever I had free time, comparing it's impeccable craftsmanship with those of other ocarina makers.
Nothing compared to it.
I had finally become what I had so dreamed about for my entire childhood... I had the Ocarina of Time!
Since then, I have expanded my ocarina collection, now having three different ocarinas, including my OoT.
I've fallen in love with an instrument that I thought was a simple toy from a videogame, and learned that it's legacy stretches farther back than the history of Hyrule itself.
The ocarina is an ancient flute-like instrument that originated in Asia over 10,000 years ago, though the modern ocarina, which is what I have, didn't appear until little over 150 years ago in Budrio, Italy.
Giuseppe Donati, an Italian brick mason, introduced the modern ocarina to the world after he made his first ocarina in 1853.
Since then, the ocarina has exploded into Western Culture, making its name infamous in the aforementioned Zelda game.
The enchantment that this simple videogame has cast upon me will never die.
There are many people in the world that oppose videogames entirely, refusing their children to be exposed to such "mindless drivel".
Fuck that.
Videogames shaped my childhood and made me the woman I am today. Without videogames, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't nearly have the sense of stamina and--let's face it--hmour that I have today.
Playing Ocarina of Time, all the Zelda games in general, opened my eyes to a world beyond the walls of my bedroom.
When I wasn't reading Harry Potter, or drawing, or running along the beach, I was playing Zelda.
Link's adventures sparked the love of adventure in me.
And that spark has never faded even a little bit.
"Link, he come to town
Come to save
The Princess Zelda!
Ganon took her away
Now the children don't play
But they will
When Link saves the day!
HALLELUJAH!!
Now Link,
Fill up your hearts
So you can shoot
Your sword with Power
And when you're feeling all down
The faerie will come around
So you'll be brave
And not a sissy coward!
Now Link,
has saved the day!
Put Ganon
In his grave!
So now
Zelda is free
And now our Hero shall be
Link, I think
your name shall
go down into
History!"
No comments:
Post a Comment